Cherry Mobile Alpha Luxe in the flesh

During the #WOWCherryMobile event, we were able to take the Alpha Luxe out for a spin. Head past the break to check out our first impression of this new competitively-priced Windows Phone handset.

It’s funny that a day before CM officially announced the Alpha lineup, we’ve shared with you the NGM Harley-Davidson Windows Phone, a 5-inch WP smartphone that shares a striking similarity with the Omega Icon.

Coincidentally, the new Alpha Luxe also looks and feels like the Omega Icon in the hands. However, instead of a back panel wrapped in faux-leather complete with fake stitches on the border, the Alpha Luxe has a smooth posterior with a glossy finish.

Apart from the unassuming yet well-built design, the Alpha Luxe also inherited the same placement of the external components of the Omega Icon. Up top we got the Micro-USB port beside the audio jack, volume adjuster on the left flank and power button on the right.

The front panel is mainly occupied by the handset’s 5-inch IPS display panel which has a 1280 x 720 resolution. Above it are the earpiece and front-mounted camera with 2 million pixels, and right below are three capacitive buttons for Back, Home and Search.

Hidden underneath the phone’s back cover are two SIM card slots and Micro-SD card slot which sits just below the handset’s 8-megapixel rear camera. Rounding up the list is the battery compartment which houses the phone’s 2000mAh battery.

Initial Verdict

During our short time with the new CM Alpha Luxe, we were pretty pleased by the design and the overall feel of the handset. The handset was not too thin or too thick and feels very good in the hands. The absence of the faux-leather cover on the back did take away some of the premium feel from the handset, but we don’t think that it’s going to be a big deal for most users.

The buttons, both the physical and capacitive ones, are fairly responsive and are ergonomically situated around the handset. Speaking of responsiveness, the Luxe’s display was also quick to recognize touch inputs and was able to quickly respond to most of it, resulting to a smooth touchscreen action.

Cherry Mobile Alpha Luxe specs:
5-inch HD IPS display, 1280 x 720 @294ppi
Dragontrail Glass
1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8212 Snapdragon 200 quad-core CPU
Adreno 302 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
8 megapixel rear camera
2 megapixel front camera
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
Windows Phone 8.1 OS
2,000mAh battery
145 x 72 x 9 mm
160 g

To conclude our first impression, the Alpha Luxe should be a good alternative to the Alpha Style, should you have an extra two grand to burn. It’s got a significantly better screen, twice the amount of RAM and internal storage, not to mention a more respectable build compared to the bulky Alpha Style.